Season's Greetings
everyone! Whilst the traditional festive snow has thus far stayed away
from Caithness the weather has had it's moments, with some of the local
fields and low lying areas sitting full of water in places never usually
seen. The heavy seas took their toll on the harbours on the east coast,
with several experiencing severe damage - for more details and some excellent
photographs visit the Caithness community website www.caithness.org.
Heavy rain is lashing the window as I type this.....

The
variable weather did not however deter a healthy stream of friends and
visitors from coming along to our traditional Boxing Day opening, where
hot mulled wine, mincemeat pies, tea and coffee were on hand to add to
the warm welcome given to one and all. The opening has become a popular
place to meet up with old friends for a chat whilst viewing the various
displays. This year we had the added bonus of a live demonstration of
how to ice traditional continental gingerbreads, with visitors invited
to have a go. This proved very popular and we are grateful to Jana Emburey
for ably demonstrating the fine art of making gingerbread look even tastier!
Jana is at present working at the St Fergus Gallery in Wick. She is seeking
to promote it as a community arts venue and welcomes young and old to
view the exhibitions and engage in spontaneous drawing. Why not drop in
and see her?

Another
special feature was the unveiling of our latest exhibit - a 1941 Rolls-Royce
Merlin engine! The engine was recovered by the late Bob Falconer and his
friend Lewis Sinclair from a Hurricane fighter plane that was based at
RAF Castletown during the second World War. The plane had crashed into
the moss in the centre of Caithness during a training exercise. The engine
is on loan to Castletown Heritage Society courtesy of Bob's son Robert
and Lewis Sinclair, pending the establishment of a suitable location for
it's display by Halkirk Heritage Society. The provenance and social history
associated with the engine is truly fascinating - watch this space for
a special feature! In the meantime the engine is on display at Castlehill
Heritage Centre during normal opening hours.

Busy, busy,
busy!

The queue
for the mulled wine seemed to be constantly replenished...

Jana (right)
demonstrates how to get started

Gently does
it [Photo
Sheila Moir]

Liz shows
off her finished gingerbread

Muriel explains
the history of the crashed Hurricane aircraft. The item on the
stand is the carburettor from the Merlin engine

Deep in discussion
about RAF Castletown

Muriel enjoys
a good yarn with the two Alistairs

Part of the
collection of artefacts recently donated to the Society [Photo
Sheila Moir]

As
reported back in October, Caithness
Astronomy Group has been successful in its quest to have Castlehill
Heritage Centre officially designated as a 'Dark Sky Discovery Site'.
Castlehill Heritage Centre is one of eighteen new sites to be so designated
- and we are the only site north of Inverness! The eighteen sites have
been approved by the Science and Technology Facilities Council-led Dark
Sky Discovery programme as safe, accessible areas with reduced light
pollution that are good for seeing the stars.

CAG member Alan Kennedy
recently presented Hugh Crowden with the official designation certificate,
which is now proudly displayed by the entrance way in the main hall.

The next Caithness
Astronomy Group event is a stargazing evening at Castlehill Heritage Centre
on Friday 11th January 2012, at 7pm. See the CAG
website for further details.

As long a go as the third millenium BC, the ancient Egyptians made a thick
paper like material from the pith of the papyrus plant. The finished product
was good enough to use as a writing surface and was widely used as a rival
to parchment (which was made from animal skins). Nowadays we take paper
for granted, and it is readily available to purchase in a wide variety
of forms and finishes. But the art of paper making from whatever materials
are available to hand has not been lost - as our tutor for this exiting,
hands-on workshop will demonstrate.

Local artist Joanne
B Kaar is a papermaker of international repute, and over the two days
of the workshop will take us through the process preparing paper from
a diverse range of materials. Did you know you could make paper from such
things as banana skins, celery, cabbage, orange peel, onion skins, nettles,
rush, NZ Flax, thistle down, pine needles, grasses or hosta..... to name
but a few? Prepare to be amazed!

The two day workshop
will take place on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th January 2013.
Cost per person will be £60 per person. Booking absolutely
essential. Materials will be provided, however participants will be encouraged
to bring along their own dried materials - whatever they may be!

An impressive display
of lovingly crafted articles was to the fore in Castlehill Heritage Centre
on Saturday 1st December, when the North Highland Woodturners Association
held their annual competition
and prize giving. A good turn out of members brought along a diverse selection
of their work over the year, from bowls to trays, involute turned articles
to goblets and trays.

Guest judge Neil
Buchan was presented with a real challenge to select the prize winners
as all the articles were of a very high standard, however after much deliberation
the final results were as follows:

First overall
- James Polson for his delicately turned goblet. A simple piece
but very well executed and finished.

Second
- Ivor Thomas. Ivor's unusual cruciform bowl was created using
a combination of turning and carving - a fine example of inventive craftsmanship.

The North Highland
Woodturners are based in Castlehill Heritage Centre and meet on the first
Saturday of each month from 9am to 12 noon (except January) and the third
Wednesday of each month from 7pm to 9:30pm (except January and December).
Whether you are a beginner or a very experienced woodturner you can be
assured of a warm welcome.

Experimental
paper-making with Joanne Kaar- a two day workshop on 19th and 20th
January. PLease note there is a deadline for bookings for this workshop
- please click here to register your interest.

Monoprinting
evening with Jana Emburey, a Monday in February.

Vintage recipe
workshop- interpreting recipes and home cures from 1860s with talented
bakers from Murkle WRI

Thatching
workshop--in conjunction with Mary-Ann's cottage.

Genealogy
open day with an experienced researcher Allan Bruce who will give advice
on researching family members in WW1. Planned for a Sunday in May

Basic Sewing
with Helen Gunn-- a chance to attend a further full day session

Poetry writing
workshop with John Glendale.

WW2 themed
Concert

Traditional
Bothy Night - November

Christmas Craft
Sale - November

To register interest
in any of these events, or to suggest others, please click
here

Dateline: Sunday
25 November 2012

Bothy
Nicht - bring on the next one!

Sometimes we just
seem to get it right. Our traditional Bothy Nicht workshop has become
something of an institution, with each year's event surpassing the last.
The canny blend of information, learning, a good supper and wholesome
entertainment seems to be a successful formula, and Friday night's event
was no exception.

Our master of ceremonies
Muriel was her usual efficent and highly entertaining self, interlacing
the acts with informative pieces bringing to life the social history of
the bothy, and in particular the character and working conditions
of workers farm servants who used to inhabit them round the turn of the
century.

We were delighted
to welcome back Clapshot - Donald MacNeill, Dave Broughton and Danny O
Hagan with guest members Katy Malone and Neil Parkin - as anchor for the
musical entertainment. Dave led the band through a variety of reels, jigs,
hornpipes and other traditional Scottish and Irish tunes, interspersed
with some fine blues grass tunes from Neil P on the banjo. Jenny Broughton
performed a most agile display of traditional clog dancing.

Regular Castlehill
workshop supporter Heather Millard was in fine voice, getting the audience
participating in a Northumberland folk song about a shipwreck, and performing
a lovely piece called "On my own" from Les Miserables.
Her wonderful singing of "Ye banks and braes of Bonnie Doune" by
Robert Burns prompted one member of Clapshot to comment that it was one
of the best renditions of that song he had heard from a non Scottish singer.

Katy Malone performed
a couple of solo spots, including a humorous ditty about a small boy and
his lost marble which had the audience in stitches, and her poem about
men with moustaches was undoubtedly a song awaiting a tune! Katy also
played bodran and the whistle with Clapshot - a talented lady. Danny O
Hagan gave us a couple of folk songs wound round some good Glasgow banter
and humour.

Castletown Heritage
Society committee members were also to the fore - Neil Buchan performed
some traditional bothy ballads - The Hash of Benagoak, It's
lonely at nicht in the Bothy, and by special request, Barnyards
of Delgaty. He also read an amusing tale called The Prowler.
This true story reflected some real life experiences of George Blythe
who, as a young lad, was stationed at RAF Castletown in 1941.

Helen Gunn gave us
a character-perfect rendition of the classic Caithness poem Div e mind?
by John Horne. Muriel brought the sad story of The Lybster Train to
life in a more than passable attempt at the Caithness dialect, and entertained
us with a humourous tale about the Dunnet Skate. Jayne Blackburn
had us in stitches with her poem about a candle and Castlehill volunteer
Alan Bruce recited the poem Castletown by Jessie Begg. Towards
the end of the evening Izzie Currie brought the house down with her two,
slightly risque songs....

Many thanks to all
who came along to make the evening such a success, not forgetting the
Castletown Hotel who provided the cottage pie for the half-time supper.

Roll on next year!

Dateline: Monday
19 November 2012

Bee
Exhibition enthralls local schoolchildren

Castletown
Primary School classes were fortunate to choose a fine crisp day for their
walk to Castlehill recently. They came in three class groups to have a
"Bee Experience." Each group was guided through the year's work for a
bee-keeper by local guides Robin and Gail Inglis from Freswick. With lots
of hands on opportunities to explore bee hives, smokers, and extractors
the children learnt all about the making of honey and its collection by
the bee keeper. Much fear and misinformation about bees and their stings
was dispelled! Groups also looked at the life cycle of the bumble bee,
the byproducts of royal jelly and propolis, and the anatomy of the honey
bee.

On their return to
school P7 penned neatly written letters of thanks expressing the best
parts of the day in their eyes. CHS is always delighted to get such helpful
feed-back.

Some of the comments
received:

I liked learning
that the bees huddled round the queen in winter to keep her warm

The best bit
was the bee-keeper talking to us about his work

It was a nice
walk down to the heritage centre and it was good to get out of school

The best part
was how the bees make royal jelly to feed baby bees

We learnt that
there are only twenty four species of bee left in the UK

We got to hold
the frames - one had honey on it

It is very
interesting how bees communicate by dancing

We all look forward
to the next visit from Castletown School.

Photos
of visit courtesy of Castletown Primary School

Dateline: Saturday
17 November 2012

Christmas
Craft Sale

A fine, clear, crisp frosty morning bode well for a
bright and sunny day - and we weren't disappointed. One of those days
with cloudless skies horizon to horzon that make it a joy to be living
in Caithness. It encourages one to get out and about, top up the vitamin
D and cross a few more items off the Christmas shopping list.

And so it was. A
steady stream of discerning shoppers, the curious and those that just
fancied a nice cup of tea and some freshly baked fancy pieces, made their
way to the Castlehill Heritage Centre where our Christmas Craft Sale buzzed
with activity all afternoon.

The Caithness Handbell
Ringers got things underway with a most enjoyable selection of seasonal
tunes and carols. They even managed to persuade Muriel to have a go -
and in typical style she performed faultlessly! Hidden talents there methinks.
Click
here for a short video clip.

Many thanks to all
who came along to make the sale such a success - the eclectic mix of stall
holders, the committee members for their usual dedication and lovely home
baking, and all the visitors and shoppers who from feedback received really
enjoyed their afternoon.

Dateline: Tuesday
13 November 2012

Coming
soon - Paper Making Workshop

As long a go as the third millenium BC, the ancient Egyptians made a thick
paper like material from the pith of the papyrus plant. The finished product
was good enough to use as a writing surface and was widely used as a rival
to parchment (which was made from animal skins). Nowadays we take paper
for granted, and it is readily available to purchase in a wide variety
of forms and finishes. But the art of paper making from whatever materials
are available to hand has not been lost - as our tutor for this exiting,
hands-on workshop will demonstrate.

Local artist Joanne
B Kaar is a papermaker of international repute, and over the two days
of the workshop will take us through the process preparing paper from
a diverse range of materials. Did you know you could make paper from such
things as banana skins, celery, cabbage, orange peel, onion skins, nettles,
rush, NZ Flax, thistle down, pine needles, grasses or hosta..... to name
but a few? Prepare to be amazed!

The two day workshop
will take place on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th January 2013.
Cost per person will be £60 per person. Booking essential.
Materials will be provided, however participants will be encouraged to
bring along their own dried materials - whatever they may be!

A gift voucher
for this workshop could be a really different and exciting Christmas present!

This years annual
demonstration was held at Castletown Heritage Centre on 1 September. This
years demonstrator was Michael O'Donnell the world renowned woodturner
who lives at Brough, Dunnet. He has over the past few months been writing
articles for a woodturning magazine on turning unusual objects and the
methods, jigs, and fixtures involved. A program had been agreed that he
would demonstrate one of these, a seed pod, followed by an elliptical
vase and finish with a demonstration of turning a green wood [unseasoned]
goblet.

The audience of around
40 people made up of 10 woodturners from Inverness, 10 woodturners from
N.H.W.A. and around 20 local people were treated to a very interesting
and entertaining demonstration by a master woodturner. Mick described
how he had been inspired to turn these items followed by an explanation
of the holding methods and the tools used. The audience was then treated
to a demonstration of woodturning interspersed by easily understood explanations
of the operations involved. In between each demonstration there was a
coffee/tea and biscuits break during which the audience mingled and discussed
what they had seen.

The final demonstration
was the turning of a very thin walled green wood goblet in local sycamore.
Mick demonstrated his technique of using a dark room with a single light
shining through the wood to indicate the thickness of the goblet. At the
end of each demonstration Mick gave the item to a member of the audience,
so three people went home with a momento, and everybody went home appreciating
the fine demonstration performed by Mick.

Thanks must also
be given to Castletown Heritage Society for all the assistance given in
setting up and with the tea/coffee breaks.

Report and images by Fred Haughton, Chairman, NHWA

Dateline: Sunday
4 November 2012

Helen
has them in stitches...!

Needles, pins and
sewing machines were very much to the fore yesterday
as master seamstress Helen Gunn ably demonstrated how to tackle those
tricky textile repairs and how to set about creating bespoke items at
our first 'Basic Sewing Workshop'. From replacing a zip to making a roman
blind, Helen coached and encouraged the delegates, each of whom had brought
along their own challenging article.

Helen demonstrates
how to create a roman blind

Liz hard at
work assembling a knitted patchwork blanket

Marking out
the lining for the roman blind

Liz measuring
out material for some rather smart cushions

Muriel adjusts
the sleeves of a favourite jacket

Fancy material,
and even fancier scissors!

Dateline: Monday
22 October 2012

Castlehill
becomes a Dark Sky Discovery Site!!

Caithness
Astronomy Group has been successful in its quest to have Castlehill Heritage
Centre officially designated as a 'Dark Sky Discovery Site'. It was announced
on Friday last week that Castlehill Heritage Centre is one of eighteen
new sites to be so designated - and we are the only site north of Inverness!
The eighteen sites have been approved by the Science and Technology Facilities
Council-led Dark Sky Discovery
programme as safe, accessible areas with reduced light pollution that
are good for seeing the stars.

Dan
Hillier, Project Lead for the Dark
Sky Discovery programme who is based at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh
said "It is great to see this project continuing to grow. The fact
that Dark Sky Discovery continues to gain such momentum is testament to
the hard work of all those involved with either nominating local stargazing
sites or arranging events for the public to take part in". The Dark
Sky Discovery programme aims to involve as many different communities
as possible and encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to consider
taking part in stargazing activities. A delighted Gordon Mackie, Chairman
of Caithness Astronomy Group, was keen to emphasise the benefits of Castlehill
"The Northern
Highlands of Scotland are lucky enough to have some of the darkest skies
in Western Europe and it's great to see the first Dark Sky Discovery Site
in the far north of the UK is Castlehill Heritage Centre, where Caithness
Astronomy Group hold many of their events."

The next CAG event
in November sees science writer and astronomer Duncan Lunan giving a public
talk at Thurso High School on Friday 16th November at 1930hrs - talk title
is "The Future of Spaceflight". He will also chat about his latest
book "The Stones and the Stars" which deals with Stone Circles
and their astronomical connections.

The
two stunning photos above are courtesy of Stewart Watt, CAG.

Dateline: Tuesday
16 October 2012

All
things woolly wonderful!

On
Sunday 14 October the inclement weather let up just long enough to allow
visitors to the "Wool Experience at Castlehill" watch the alchemy
of plant dyeing in action in the open air. Woad leaves, once boiled create
a green liquid which on exposure to the air turns a rich blue (traditionally,
Pictish warriors and drovers bonnets were dyed with woad.)

Fresh from the recent
double success of presenting the skills of dyeing carding and spinning
to Wick High school and Castletown Primary school, Ann Johnson and her
group of crafty ladies put on
a day long display of spinning, carding, weaving, heckling and dyeing.
A stream of visitors dropped in to have a go at all the skills and to
learn which plants produced which colour. Impatient youngsters were enthralled
by the rapid methods for creating riotous colours on wool using squirty
bottles and a micro-wave. Older people found that they picked up the knack
of spinning quite easily. Many contacts were established and new members
to the group signed up.

On Friday 12 October,
Castlehill Heritage Centre welcomed visitors to the world premiere of
a short film as part of the Wild
North Festival. It had been made in the course of the two previous
days by participants at a video making workshop run by Toby
and Fionn Watts of Keiss. The Watts brothers put the students through
the skills required to produce a piece based on Castlehill.

As their inspiration
they chose the tragic tale picked from the archive of newspaper clippings
held at the Centre. Two children had been left alone all day in the house
while the parents went to work. On the parents return the children were
found dead in a meal barrel. Whether it was a game of hide and seek that
went tragically wrong or an attempt to get food from the barrel will never
be known. The video captured in sound and image the stark tragedy of the
event.

Also shown was a
film shot by the Watts on an artistic installation at Keiss. EkkO explores
the idea of a stone encircled space set in the landscape.

Next
on the evening programme was a talk by Mairi Carnegie of the Scottish
Agricultural College in Edinburgh. Mairi pitched her talk absolutely
correctly for the benefit of a varied audience. It was apparent that the
organisation of the life of a colony of bees within a hive was matched
equally by the organisation of the work of the College bee health section.

There
to help identify possible diseases in hives from samples sent in by bee
keepers, the college also advises on the eradication and control of pests
and threats like American foulbrood, sacbrood, and varroa mite. Caithness
is fortunate in being one of the few places where varroa has not taken
hold.

Mairi's
talk complemented an exhibition on beekeeping and bumble bees, on display
at Castlehill for the duration of Wild
North Festival.

All in all a thououghly
enjoyable evening. It is hoped that the video workshop will be the fore-runner
to more incursions into the world of film making and post production.

Ever
'wand'ered about plants?

Harry Potter and
his friends knew the importance of choosing the right source of material
for a wand - holly, hazel, rowan or yew. At a recent Wild
North festival event at Castlehill Heritage Centre, Seona Anderson
of Plantlife International
took her audience on a journey through time, examining the mythology of
plants from Greek, Celtic and Norse times right up to the symbolism of
national plants in the recent past.

A branch of rowan
for example was good to have handy if pursued by malicious fairies, a
hazel bough denoted kingship and learning, and yew for longevity. Even
tiny delicate flowers had a powerful impact in ancient cultures. In Roman
times the violet was a symbolic flower whose influence lasted into the
19th century France when supporters of Emperor Napoleon wore a violet
to show loyalty. The blue cornflower spread west from the earliest home
of farming the Euphrates valley in Iraq in the corn seed. It is also seen
depicted in Egyptian tombs. It has become the flower of remembrance in
France today.

Seona Anderson explained
how the names of plants changed along with shifts in religion or power.
For example Thor's helmet became wolfbane, Freya's hair became Our Ladies
Hair and then ladies hair.

Plantlife
International have launched a project which will appeal to craft lovers
in the area. Groups or individuals are invited to make a small square
in any fabric or craft medium illustrating a plant or flower of their
choice. Photos of the completed square along with a short background story
are uploaded on to the Plantlife website. A quilt of squares will be formed
which will tour the country and is to be a focal point of next year's
Wild
North Festival in June /July 2013

Dateline: Wednesday
26 September 2012

Castlehill
exhibition forward programme

As
September draws to a close we are in the throes of dismantling the summer
exhibition on "Flagstone Village". This will give way to a fascinating
presentation on bees and beekeeping, under the banner of Wild
North Festival. Robin Inglis who heads the Olrig and District Bee-keepers
Association is an authority on bee-keeping and his wife Gail an accomplished
photographer. We look forward to an interesting and eye catching display.

CHS
has established a pattern of putting on two major displays a year, allowing
the society to show the public a selection of the material which they
hold under a common theme. For example "People in uniform", "Our
maritime heritage" and "Entertainment over the years" have
all been succesful exhibitions. Our winter display, due to be launched
on Boxing Day will be called "Cultivation" a 'two for the price
of one' play on words, implying working the soil and also the mind. In
other words Education and Farming. It should prove instructive
and evocative.

Uniquely,
from late October to mid December we will break with tradition to put
on an exhibition which will not have a common theme. Visitors will be
able to see a varied selection of objects and artefacts recently donated
to the society, providing wonderful and multifarious echoes of the past.
The objects reflect the generosity of our members and friends and also
the interest which people have in preserving small local items from yester
year. Early typewriters, paraffin bicycle lamps, crucifix bottles, butter
churns, a 19th shipwreck timber are but a sample of the extensive array
to be on view. Come along and admire them.

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News round-up ***

Bookbinding
workshop (22 Sept)

Bookbinding
and Indie Publishing workshops at Castlehill with Hamish McDonald proved
that a dozen folks with no previous experience as book binders could make
a hand sewn, hard back book before lunch. Those who stayed for the afternoon
session created a paperback book and learned how to go about printing
and publishing their own work if they choose to do so.

Photos by

Sharon Gunason
Pottinger

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Automaton
family workshops (15 & 16 Sept)

Continuing our theme
of an annual science based event we were delighted to host a unique hands
on workshop where children designed and built their own automaton! It
also proved to be a great opportunity for some technology bonding time
with Dad/Mum!

Two
workshops ran concurrently - a K'Nex model-building workshop for
Primary School age children and parents, and a Lego Mindstorms
programmable robotics based workshop for children over 10 yrs.

Led by local STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Embassador Pat Kieran
MBE and supported by Sharon Gunason Pottinger, the event was a follow-on
local activity in support of the British Science Festival in Aberdeen,
and was sponsored by the British Science Association.

The
STEM ambassador is a catalyst, a change agent. According to their web
site (www.stemnet.org.uk) STEM
ambassadors 'create opportunities to inspire young people' in science
and engineering and our workshops proved to be no exception.

Selection
of photos from both workshop days provided by Pat Kieran

The
workshops proved how much fun science and invention can be. Whether any
of the workshop participants go on to become engineers or bridge architects,
they will have learned about solving problems and thinking imaginatively.
Whatever career they choose, those are important skills to have. More
importantly, it helps release their potential as human beings.

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Dunnet
Forestry Trust FOREST FEST (11 Aug)

Last
month Dunnet Forestry Trust held a ‘FOREST FEST’ open day celebration
to mark the completion of their latest venture. At the stroke of mid-day
DFT members were led by a piper in procession through the forest trail
to their new log cabin where a tree was planted to commemorate 10 years
of community foresting.

After
a few words by past & present members of the DFT board the log cabin was
officially declared open and ready for action. A range of demonstrations
and events took place during the afternoon, including pole lath turning,
children’s orienteering, childrens drama workshop and pony trap rides,
plus a number of raffles and stalls.

Castletown
Heritage Society has enjoyed a long term association with Dunnet Forestry
Trust who operate from an office within the Castlehill Heritage Centre.
The log cabin, built entirely by volunteers under guidance and instruction
from professional instructors is a fantastic addition to the array of
resources and features created by DFT within the community woodland at
Dunnet. We wish them every success in their ongoing programme of community
based activities.

DFT members
and friends gathered for the opening ceremony

The
new log cabin, constructed entirely from natural materials, complete
with turf roof

Some
detail of the construction handiwork

Numerous display
boards describe the local flora and fauna

Dendrograffiti?

A
strange sombre character stands sentinel outside the cabin - a tribute
to the chainsaw artist's skill

Dateline: Sunday
26 August 2012

Absence
makes the heart grow fonder (hopefully)

Many apologies to
our regular site visitors for the lack of updates over the past few weeks.
This was due to a combination of your humble scribe being away enjoying
the action at the London Olympics and some technical challenges following
the migration of the website to a new server. I hope to catch up with
things over the next few days, kicking off with the following report on
the Scotlands Gardens event.

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Flagstone
Village Gardens - floribunda maxima!

Scotland’s
Gardens Scheme (SGS) is a registered charity created in 1931 which
raises funds for other worthy charities by facilitating the opening of
large and small gardens of horticultural interest throughout Scotland
to the public.

On Sunday 29 July,
Castlehill Heritage Centre hosted the local base for a special one day
event held under the scheme in Castletown. Over 100 visitors took part,
starting off at Castlehill where on payment of their admission fee they
were issued with a map plus information and details relating to flagstone
village gardens within Castletown that were open to the public for the
day. We are deeply grateful to Mr and Mrs Sutherland, Mr and Mrs Oag,
and Mr and Mrs Jones for allowing their domestic gardens to be displayed.

Everyone
agreed that the Castlehill Courtyard garden looked fantastic, due to the
hours of work lavished on it by our head gardener Irene Wares. A new leaflet
explaining the layout and history of the courtyard garden was created
in time for the event - if you would like to download a copy click here.

Thanks to a great
deal of commitment from the committee and spouses and /or fiancées,
the event proved to be a great success. To all who baked such a wonderful
selection of delicacies, made and served tea, washed up, took in money,
sold plants, encouraged innocent passers-by to enter, well done!! A total
of £307 was raised for Scotlands Gardens for their nominated charities.

Open for business!

The
heritage themed courtyard garden at Castlehill, as viewed from the
entrance gate

Our
handcart provides a the setting for a cascade of Tum Thumbs

Delicate and
elegant

The variety
of thriving species is testament to the hard work of our head
gardener, Irene Wares

The
vegetable patch and coastal meadow at left centre

The
teas provided by our committee members were a popular attraction,
as was the plant stall, expertly manned by Irene

An old fashioned
climbing rose - awash with colour

Very patriotic
- just in time for the Olympic Games!

Another splash
of vibrant colour

The
herb wheel, centre is a constant source of varied fragrance - and
popular with bees and butterflies

Two
of our supporters taking a stroll round the garden

The Gardening
Club from Wick arrive en mass

The
entrance display at Alan and Gloria Jones's garden

Just
lovely!

Another
of Alan's beds

Approaching
the Oag's magnificent garden - reclaimed from derelict land at the
edge of the redundant quarry workings at the west end of Castletown

These beds
are literally on the edge of the cliff face at the edge of the
quarry - weeding in the dark not advised....

The
entrance to the Sutherland's extensive garden - something different
lies around each corner

A
delightful bed overlooks Dunnet Bay

Simple, but
stunning

And
there's more!

Each corner
has a particular theme

The
oriental themed patio behind the house is most attractive

Little pockets
of colour everywhere you look

Back at Castlehill,
the recently donated Atco lawnmower was on display to the public
for the first time. It has been fully refurbished and is in fine
working order.

The
ladies of the committee and helpers take a breather. General feedback
confirmed my tasting trials - the cakes were truly scrumptious!

Dateline: Sunday
22 July 2012

Champion
artist at Caithness County Show

We
all knew that our chairwoman Muriel was handy with a paintbrush - the
walls and ceilings in Castlehill Heritage Centre are ready evidence of
this - however her talent extends well beyond magnolia emulsion. Muriel
is a regular attender at our Monday evening painting classes and last
year her talent was recognised when she scooped first prize in the
oil painting category in the open industrial section of the Caithness
Country Show. One year on and she has hit the big time - yesterday her
delightful study of a pig not only won Class 43 for a painting in acrylics,
but also won the John O'Groats Perpetual Trophy for the Best Exhibit in
the Arts Classes! Well done Muriel!

Dateline: Sunday
8 July 2012

Olympic
Day round Dunnet Bay - champion!

Our
Chairwoman Muriel Murray has a knack of coming up with really good ideas
to engage and encourage children to learn about the heritage of their
local environment - and this was another winner. Playing into the theme
of the approaching London 2012 Olympic games, participants were invited
to visit five local venues where at each they would take part in an 'olympic
challenge' to earn an 'olympic' ring. Once
all five had been 'won' successful participants received a certificate
and medal to commemorate their endeavours.

The venues, which
were all based around Dunnet Bay could be visited in any order. Furthest
east was the bird hide at St Johns loch, expertly maintained and manned
by local artist and bird enthusiast Julian Smith and his wife. Visitors
were rewarded with an exciting and constantly changing display of activity
from the colony of Artic Terns currently resident at the site. For those
who accepted the challenge there was an opportunity earlier in the day
to see birds being ringed. On completing their visit participants were
issued with a bird ring and the ring registration number of one of the
birds ringed earlier in the morning, plus instructions on how to track
their movements around the world.

Visitors to Mary
Ann's Cottage at Dwarwick were treated to a conducted tour and rewarded
with a 'gold' (brass) ring complete with a hand made crochet tag. A fascinating
place where time disappears as you learn about the life and times of Mary
Ann and her family - the croft house is virtually as it was the day she
left!

The SeaDrift visitor
centre at the east end of Dunnet links is an interesting place where the
local flora and fauna are displayed and explained by knowledgable ranger
staff. The challenge here was to decorate a real limpit shell 'ring'.

The Dunnet Forestry
Trust really entered into the spirit of things, setting up a special venue
in the midst of the forest. The challenge was to find a series of clues
hidden amongst the trees which, when pieced together told the story of
common creatures and insects living in a typical pond in the forest. The
'ring' rewards were specially cut discs of wood from the forest, which
the children could decorate with materials provided.

The final port of
call was Castlehill Heritage Centre, where the challenge was to create
an 'olympic' ring by weaving pre-soaked green willow twigs. The warm environment
of the Centre proved to be most welcome, as the weather was 'less than
summery'... A special treat was also in store, as Kate Barnett was on
hand with her genuine London 2012 Olympic Torch. Kate took part in the
round Britain Olympic Torch Relay, running her section in Aberdeen.

All in all a great
event, with super feedback from those who braved the weather to take part.

The bird hide
at Brough was a big hit with families, with a lively colony of
Artic Terns a constant source of interest. Children collected
a marking ring as part of their olympic quest

Liz gets some
expert guidance from Julian Smith and his wife. Their passion
and enthusiasm was quite infectious!

Visitors to
Mary Ann's Cottage received a 'gold' (brass) curtain ring with
crochet tag to record they had taken part in the tour of the cottage
and outbuildings

The SeaDrift
visitor centre at the caravan site at Dunnet was open especially
for the event.

Children learned
about shells and the life of crustacea in the sea.

Their challenge
was to decorate limpit shell 'rings', formed when an abandoned
shell is rolled around on the sea bed, wearing away the top section
to leave a shell 'ring' shape

Two otter
inhabitants at the Seadrift centre - perhaps looking for a ring
of bright water??

The Dunnet
Forestry trust were well prepared for the drizzly weather at their
activity spot

The 'olympic'
challenge involved learning about pond life through solving a
puzzle, and decorating their own 'ring' of pine

Olympians
hard at work decorating their 'ring' trophy

The clues
to the puzzle were hidden amongst the trees - only once all the
pieces had been collected could the puzzle be solved

The challenge
at the Centre was to create your own ring by weaving willow twigs.

Nearly finished...

Kate Barnett
was on hand to give children (and adults!) the opportunity to
see and hold a genuine London 2012 Olympic Torch.

Dateline: Tuesday
26 June 2012

Budding
Dykers at Castlehill

A group of pupils
from Wick High School got a taste of crofting life yesterday when they
took part in a drystone dyking training project at Castlehill Heritage
Centre. The focus of their efforts was the creation of a wishing well
shaped flower bed. Timed to perfection within the hours available to the
pupils under the guidance of George Gunn master dyker, the circular drystone
walls rose straight and true. The hard work, politeness and enthusiasm
of the group from WHS was applauded by Muriel Murray and Hugh Crowden
of Castletown Heritage Society.

It is hoped that
the roof of the wishing well may be done as a woodwork project in school
next session. Meanwhile the centre is looking forward to the next visit
from the group, for a day of woolly fun- trying out spinning, weaving,
knitting and crochet.

Photos
courtesy of Elspeth
Chapman of Wick High School

Dateline: Sunday
24 June 2012

Scottish
Hydro Volunteers at Castlehill

Two local community
groups recently had some work completed for their organisation courtesy
of employees from Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution [SHEPD] and
Catherine Patterson Volunteer Development Officer for Caithness Voluntary
Group. Employees from SHEPD were involved in the 'Community at Heart'
Scheme which gives every member of staff a day away from their normal
work dues to volunteer their time and skills for a local organisation
or charity.

Castlehill Heritage
Society in Castletown benefitted from the use of SHEPD's volunteers when
they refurbished and painted several exterior doors at the centre. Muriel
Murray from the Heritage Centre was "absolutely delighted" with the work
carried out, well done to all involved.

The use of employees
for voluntary purposes is embraced by many businesses in Caithness under
Employer Supported Volunteering which is coordinated by Catherine Patterson
at Caithness Voluntary Group.

Many businesses volunteer
their time or donate materials for local groups but don't always receive
recognition. She would encourage businesses to get in touch if they want
to help local groups and she is happy to coordinate voluntary activity.
SHEPD are a wonderful example of the business sector getting involved
at ground level in supporting their community.

The access doors to the Archaeological Research Facility are scraped
and primed

Diamond Jubilee fever
hit Castlehill Heritage Centre today as a small, but enthusiastic gathering
of guests and visitors took part in our celebration garden party. 'Garden'
proved to be a technical term as unfortunately the weather was not quite
good enough to hold the event outside as planned, but that did not stop
a good time being had by all as we tucked in to dainty home bakes and
sandwiches, washed down by a glass of wine and/or tea or coffee.The two hours passed
in a flash and all too soon it was time to say goodbye.

Ready for
the off

Sharon prepares
an inspirational item of headwear for an unsuspecting guest

Yes, 'inspirational'...

Kath, Agnes
and Ernie

Enjoying a
good blether

Hamish parts
with a fiver...always worth a photo

Izzie and
her distinctive brolly hat

Liz feeds
the helping hand

Time for grub!

Dry but breezy
- the garden was decked out in fine style

The party
goes with a swing

The entries
for the best hat competition.

First prize
goes to Liz, modelling John Lewis haute couture. Second prize
went to Reg Lewis with an early 21st century Lidl napkin.

Unfortunately
Ruby arrived just too late for the best hat competition

Ruby's home
dressed hat cut quite a dash

Dateline: Wednesday
30 May 2012

Caithness
Astronomy Group event 25 May

On
the evening of Friday 25th May Caithness Astronomy Group held a public
event at the Castlehill Heritage Centre. With glorious sunny skies outside
the evening kicked off with some solar observing.

Observing
the Sun safely requires the use of specialised equipment which CAG have
thanks to funding support from the IoP in Scotland and the Dounreay Communities
Fund. The equipment allowed observers to see sunspots which are often
much larger than the Earth and prominences of hot gas towering above the
violent and turbulent surface of the Sun.

With
the sun dipping towards the north western horizon the assembled audience
headed indoors for a talk on noctilucent clouds by guest speaker Ken Kennedy,
the Aurora Section Director from the British Astronomical Association.

Ken
has spent many years studying these beautiful "night shining" clouds that
can be seen after sunset in summer months in the regions 50-65 degrees
north and south of the equator. They form high up in our atmosphere near
the boundary with space and he explained how there appears to be a link
with global warming and that their formation also seems to be affected
by solar activity cycles.

After
the talk there was the opportunity for the assembled audience to see a
selection of stunning local photos of noctilucent clouds and aurora. Ken
also spent some time describing the ongoing research that that will see
the NASA satellite AIMS collect data on noctilucent clouds above Caithness
to compare with ground based observations.

Many
found the topic so interesting that the conversations continued on after
the event whilst enjoying a glorious sunset.

In true Caithness
style the weather played fast and loose this weekend, with periods of
brilliant sunshine punctuated with brief showers of horizontal hail. It
didn't put off the novices taking part in our drystone dyking workshop
however - they just buckled down under the guidance of local master craftsman,
George Gunn.

After being briefed
on the theory of drystone dyking and the necessary safety precautions,
the team set to work constructing a length of dyke to the north of the
Castlehill Heritage Centre. The finished wall will form part of the northern
boundary of our land, but more importantly, the skills gained by the team
will be put to good use at another project in the village.

Tutor George
Gunn explains the finer points of setting the guide lines

The wall starts
to take shape

Small stones
packed in the core help to lock the structure together and block
the wind from whistling through the wall

What a setting
for a workshop! The most northernly point in the British mainland
- Dunnet Head - in the background.

Attention
to detail

The completed
wall will partly form an enclosure at the north end of our policies

George Gunn
explains the importance of correct stone placement

Dateline:
Saturday 28 April 2012

Castlehill
Heritage Society AGM

When Muriel presented
her Chairwoman's report at the Annual General Meeting of Castletown Heritage
Society on Wednesday evening, it really made one sit up and realise just
what has been achieved by the Society in the past twelve months.

"Welcome
to
the annual general meeting of Castletown Heritage Society. As ever your
support of this society is greatly appreciated. On behalf of the committee
I would like to thank all those who have attended our events and contributed
home baking which always makes an event a bit special. Many thanks to
the people who have donated and loaned materials from the past for our
exhibitions and for our growing collection of objects and photos reflecting
the heritage of the area. People also kindly think of us when recycling
unwanted modern stuff. Painting and craft materials, items of furniture,
plastic busts and
mannequins for displaying vintage costumes, have also come our way. Of
course the real grist to our mill is often in verbal form, when local
visitors come in and give us information or tell us anecdotes illustrating
village life in past years or supply dates or missing names on photographs.

Last
year my report commented on the effect of the prolonged cold spell on
visitor numbers. This year we have felt the financial squeeze and the
high cost of fuel impact on visitors to the winter exhibition. Having
said that I can report that approaching 1000 visitors have passed through
the doors to see the exhibitions. This does not count those who choose
not to sign the visitor book nor the hundreds of people from all over
Scotland who come
here to attend our skills workshops.

Visits
from schools and youth groups are always a delight. We tailor the displays
and activities to meet the requirements of the Curriculum for excellence.
Among foreigners most came from the USA , closely followed by Australia,
and France. Also represented were Belgium, Switzerland, Hong Kong,and
Germany.

On
the works and improvement front, our latest project has been the installation
of solar panels on the south facing roof. The project has been driven
by Roy Blackburn who is pleased at the units produced since December even
through the shortest days. This will help defray the costs of electricity,
one of our most costly items. Having been operating here for five years
we are entering a maintenance phase of repairs to things like guttering
and addressing the need to freshen up rather than construct. One
constant job is the preparation of the garden in readiness for the summer.
Hugh Crowden and Irene Wares have put in many hours of labour to ensure
the garden is worth admiring all year round.

Last
summer we were pleased to host exhibitions by Brough Bay Association on
the theme of "Then and Now". Thanks to this collaboration we have now
dual screen viewing facility and additional storage for exhibition items
in the map cabinet. Next came Wick Society's summer exhibition "Our Rural
Heritage" featuring photos from their vast Johnston Collection with relevance
to this area. We were able to provide them with more information on some
images and purchasers for some of their photos. Our winter display has
the title "Local people in uniform". It showcases both military and civilians
in uniform and has attracted much interest.

As
you know the other string to our bow is the programme of traditional skills
workshops which runs throughout the year. Since last April we have run
sessions in beekeeping, wine-making, lace making, ganseys, and less traditional
perhaps two very successful family rocket making days. Participants designed,
created and test flew their rockets under the guidance of Dave Tranter
and funded and arranged by the British Science Association.

September
saw the Edwardian Concert, another example of enhanced results through
collaboration with others, this time with North Highland Connections.
They were able to arrange a vocal music residency in the lead up to the
concert. Prof Chris Underwood and graduate pianist Anne Macgregor of the
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland energised the occasion, going into schools
and conducting evening rehearsals here at Castlehill. Such was the community
involvement and success of the concert that we entered it for an Epic
Award with Voluntary Arts Scotland. Thanks to our many supporters we won
the Scottish area for People's Choice online voting and came second in
the Best project section. Among our rewards was a voucher for art materials
which have been ordered and will benefit the Monday evening painting class.

In the course
of the summer Castlehill archaeology laboratory was in great use. Soil
samples from the various excavations at Thrumster, and Nybster were wet
sieved, dried and analysed by volunteers under the tuition of Jaqui from
AOC archaeology group. Many volunteers from our Castlehill Archaeo group
were also involved in the process of digging on site.

In
June we took part in Scotlands Garden Scheme along with three other village
gardens. This raised funds for the schemes charities and a little for
us too. Some events now take a regular place in the activities programme.
The Highland Archaeology Festival walk on October, the ever popular craft
sale in November and the bothy night in November are all well attended.This
year the bothy night had a transatlantic flavour with contributions from
Americans Ted Hopkins and Sharon Pottinger.

That
annual battle of wits the Quiz set by quizmaster Neil Buchan is not to
be missed for fun and rivalry. In a couple of weeks the summer exhibition
on the "Flagstone Industry and beyond" will be set up. It will look at
the rise and fall of the industry and examine what happened next. The
winter theme will be "education" This years traditional skills programme
has already got off to a creative start.

For
the past two weekends we have had Tim Johnson, basket maker, and his colleague
Monica Guilera from Barcelona, instructing groups of eager students in
the techniques of using local materials to make mats, baskets and other
containers in traditional patterns and styles. Examples of these are on
display. In the course of his visit to the north Tim discovered examples
of local traditional baskets using unusual techniques, which he is presently
researching.

In conjunction
with our crafty associates we are putting on a 'woolly fun day'. Come
and have a go at carding, spinning, weaving, natural wool dyeing and crochet
and felting. It is hoped that a sheep will make a starring appearance
too. We celebrate the Queen's jubilee with a garden party in the courtyard,
and mark the year with an Olympic Day round Dunnet Bay encouraging. Visitors
to the various local attractions from Dunnet Head RSPB site right round
to Castlehill.

The
British Science Association is funding another exciting family day, this
time inspired by the film Hugo - participants will make their own automatons.
Our programme concludes by special request with a practical session on
Basic Sewing with dress maker Helen Gunn. Later in the year we hope to
play a part in the Wildnorth Festival promoting the natural and cultural
attractions of the area. The spinning group, which meets here twice a
month, is having an intriguing event called Shoulder to Shoulder at which
a team will endeavour to create a garment from fleece against the clock.
The added interest is that they are doing this in competition with a spinners
group from the Falkland21 Islands.

Continued
collaboration with the Princes Regeneration Trust facilitates courses
based on vernacular local buildings. The Trust are currently engaged on
a project to save and breathe new life into the two remaining 19th century
workers cottages in the Backies in Castletown. CHS is working with them
on dry stone dyking and lime mortar pointing.

Our craft groups
have undertaken to provide help with furnishings of the time, rag rugs,
trad baskets , rush mats, lace edging for curtains and antimacassars.
In July we will be hosting another Scotland Gardens open afternoon while
the centre will be the continued venue for many of the Caithness Astronomy
Group's interesting series of evening meetings. They are at the moment
working on a proposal to seek Dark Skies status for Castlehill. Other
regular users of the centre are Caithness Archaeological Trust whose summer
conference will be held here in May, and Caithness and Sutherland Craft
Development Group. The North Highland Woodturners Association meet here
twice a month. Look out for their forthcoming demonstration by Mick O'Donnel
later in the summer, and examples of their work on sale at the November
craft sale. Dunnet Forestry Trust and CHS continue to be neighbours and
offer each other mutual benefit, and Caithness Amateur Radio Society hold
regular metings here.

This extensive
array of events past and present would not of course be possible without
the hard work and dedication of the committee. This year my personal thanks
go to John Crowden who despite working in Aberdeen and offshore manages
to attend to the accounts in an efficient manner and shares secretarial
duties with me, Liz Geddes (Vice Chair), Neil Buchan (Technical projects
officer and webmaster), Sharon Pottinger (craft and writing co-ordinator
and minutes secretary), Carol Thomas, (minutes secretary until globe trotting
and family commitments had to come first), Roy Blackburn (Health and Safety
Officer and responsible for renewable energy). Jayne Blackburn mans the
base on Wednesday afternoons and deserves special mention this year for
taking on the organisation of 6 days of catering for craft workshops.
They say that an army marches on its stomach - this is true also for Castlehill
courses. Providing a communal meal helps participants bond and work with
a will. Thanks to all those who have contributed soup and baking for our
many events.

Once
again the person who comes last but by no means least is Hugh Crowden.
Hugh clocks up daily attendance at the centre to attend to the boiler
and to fetch the necessary logs from Dunnet Fores - that is when he is
not seeing to maintenance, serving tea or digging the garden - or starring
in heritage videos and on BBC television and radio. We all owe him a huge
debt. Hugh was away on holiday for five weeks earlier in the year and
his absence was greatly felt.

I am indebted
to Joanne Kaar for co-ordinating visiting craft tutors and opening our
eyes to further opportunities. Davie Swanson is always at hand to supervise
joinery work. I have mentioned her before, but a special word of thanks
must go to Irene Wares our volunteer gardener whose skill and hard work
ensures an attractive and prolonged floral display in the courtyard. I
think you will agree that Castlehill Heritage Centre is here to serve
the community and tourists.

If you would like
to be involved in helping in any way and for any length of time, please
let us know. We know that not everyone has the time to commit to being
an office-bearer or committee member, but CHS is totally dependent on
people like you. Thank you."

Following Muriel's
report treasurer John Crowden presented the accounts which confirmed that
the Society remains in a healthy state, in spite of the economic downturn.
On completion of all the formal reporting, interim Chairman Hamish Pottinger
praised the outgoing committee for their efforts then took over the helm
for the election of office bearers for the 2012-13 session, as follows:

Following
the official proceedings, guest speaker Celia McDougal presented an illuminating
talk on the history of Caithness place names.

Sharon reads
the minutes of the 2011 AGM (without the benefit of her glasses...)

Muriel delivers
the Chairwoman's address

Interim Chairman,
Hamish Pottinger

Guest speaker,
Celia McDougal reveals all about Caithness placenames

Tea time and
a chance for a chat

Celia's
displays attracted a lot of attention

Liz Geddes
gives the vote of thanks

John renewing
memberships

Dateline: Tuesday
24 April 2012

Tim
Johnson weaves his magic

Over
the past two weekends we have been delighted to welcome back Tim
Johnson as tutor for our traditional basketmaking workshop sessions.
Tim, from the Isle of Wight, is an internationally renowned craftsman,
travelling the world studying and teaching his art. This was Tim's third
visit to Castlehill as part of the ongoing programme of traditional skills
tuition organised by Castletown Heritage Society.

This year we ran
two workshop weekends over five days. The first Friday workshop was aimed
at introducing beginners to the basic skills required to make an article
from rush or willow. During the
Saturday and Sunday two-day workshops, Tim helped participants develop
their skills to a higher level. The
first weekend focussed on rush and soft materials while the second was
mainly willow but some use of soft materials in combination with the willow.
Tim's natural
ability to coach and demonstrate soon had participants quickly getting
to grips with the basics and progressing rapidly to the point of turning
out some articles to be proud of.

Thanks must once
again go to our willing volunteer members for providing some excellent
lunches - we are rapidly earning a reputation for serving some of the
best home made soup around! Thanks also go to Joanne Kaar for providing
some of the photos below.

Tim Johnson
prepares his materials

Watch my hands...

Stitching
a basket using plaided strips

The base section
completed

Paul, meticulous
as usual

Joanne deep
in concentration

As much an
artform as a craft

Some finished
examples

And there's
more...

Some of Tim's
handiwork

Now how did
they get the stone in there?

Course participants
with some of their handiwork

Dateline: Saturday
14 April 2012

Signage
restored

The
majority of Heritage Centre survived the worst of the February gales without
complaining,
however our main sign on the south end of the building made a bid for
freedom, ending up scattered around the disabled car park. As repair would
have resembled a jigsaw with some bits missing a new sign was obtained
from Malcolm Begg at Haster and secured to the wall with substantial anchor
bolts drilled into the stone wall. Hopefully this one will stay put for
a few years!

Dateline: Friday
30 March 2012

CHS
Quiz Night - results are in!

Seven enthusiastic
teams took part in the annual Castletown Heritage Quiz Night yesterday
evening. Questionmaster Neil fair got the grey cells churning with a range
of topics contemporary and traditional, with one or two curved balls thrown
in to keep the teams on their toes.

The ladies of team
'Murkle' set the pace with consistent scoring, leading by one and a half
points at the half way stage before being overtaken by team 'Vertially
Challenged' with two rounds to go, having lost out on the 'Science &
Technology' round. It was nip and tuck in the closing stages however with
only four and a half points separating the top five teams, however it
was team Murkle who held their nerve with a fine showing in the 'Caithness'
round, enabling them to pull clear to win by one and a half points from
'Vertically Challenged' who flopped spectacularly on the 'Olympic Challenge'.

A fine supper was
served at the half way stage - thanks go to Liz B, Muriel, Sharon, Jayne,
Liz G and Helen for the baking and sandwiches, and to Izzie C for her
sterling work on the raffle.

Awaiting
the results. Too
late to adjust your thinking cap now Morris

Muriel
with the winners - Team 'Murkle'.Remember,
don't open the eggs before Easter

Team
'Fossil Fish' with their consolation Malteezer Bunnies

Dateline: Sunday
11 March 2012

Caithness
Walking Festival

The
now traditional Caithness and Sutherland Walking Festival will take place
this year between the 19th and 27th of May. A brochure and flyers will
be available shortly. Click on the image or here
to see the programme of events.

Of particular note
is the walk from Thurso East to Castletown on the morning of Friday 25th
May. Why not round off your day with a visit to Castlehill Heritage Centre,
which will be open specially for the afternoon.

The
2012 season is well upon us with the Winter exhibition "Castletown
in Uniform" proving to be very popular. There's lots more to come
during 2012, where on offer is an exciting mix of family events, traditional
skills workshops, creative writing opportunities and the summer exhibition
featuring the 19th century flagstone industry.

March
sees the ever popular family quiz night and the first in a series of summer
writing workshops for which the theme is the Seasons. In April
Tim Johnson, a leading traditional basket maker, makes a welcome return
to deliver two weekend workshops the first using local material like rush,
the second concentrating on willow. A variety of stylish articles will
be produced.

George
Gunn, master craftsman is the tutor for a two day dyking course in early
May. After a day's tuition and practise at Castlehill, some participants
will be involved in wall building at the Backies in Castletown. The project
there is directed by the Princes Regeneration Trust to restore two iconic
flag workers' cottages.

The
Queen's Diamond Jubilee will be marked by a courtyard garden party - an
opportunity to give that wedding hat an extra airing. In collaboration
with neighbouring tourist attractions Castletown Heritage is organising
an "Olympic day round Dunnet Bay". This will be a family event with stands,
competitions and activities with an Olympic theme. An occasion not to
miss will be " Woolly jumper to woolly jumper". Visitors will be
able to watch the shearing of a sheep, the wool being washed, carded,
spun, and knitted into a jersey, all against the clock.

Bookbinding
and basic sewing skills also feature in the programme, while in the autumn
a family science day is planned in conjunction with the British Science
Association. This capitalises on the success last year of the rocket making
day during which would-be rocketeers of all ages made and test-launched
their own models. This year inspired by the film " Hugo", participants
will make automated models.

Castlehill is also
the venue for other groups. Caithness Amateur Radio Society, a spinning
group, a painting class, the North Highland Woodturners Association, craft
groups and Caithness Astronomy Group all meet there regularly.

To register interest
in taking part or to find out more about any event, just follow this
link.

Dateline: Sunday
5 February 2012

Are
you a Young Scot? - your views count!

Creative
Scotland is the national body for the arts in Scotland and would like
to help even more young people take part in the arts. To help them do
this they are putting together Scotland’s first National Youth Arts Strategy
to make sure that everyone gets their chance to shine.

To do this they need
your help! If you are between 11 to 26 years old, then your views, your
perspective and your voice are all important in helping to shape the strategy.
So don't hold back, tell it as it is!!

Fantastic
news! Last Monday we learned that thanks to your help and support, Castletown
Heritage Society won the 'People's Choice' Award and came runner up in
the Scottish national Award!

As reported on the
Epic
Awards website, Muriel Murray tells us how happy the Society is to
not only win the runner-up award, but also the People’s Choice Award,
voted for by the public . . .

“We
as a society were delighted that the Edwardian Concert project brought
us success in the first ever Scottish Epic Awards. It was gratifying to
have had recognition for the months of planning, researching, practising
and performing and back stage help from a huge number of people. But above
all the event was such fun and captured the interest of the community.
We like to think that the judges also gave consideration to the on-going
work that we do in the community in many different ways. Taking part in
the People’s Choice was a great experience. So many people showed their
support by voting for Castletown Heritage Society, not only society members
their friends and families and those resident in our village but also
participants in our skills workshops and other activities, off-shore workers,
ex-pats, showing us what a broad base of support we have for our efforts
at Castlehill Heritage Centre.

The
news is getting round the community and people are talking about the results
in the street! We applied with every confidence in ourselves, but were
humbled by the variety and quality of the projects undertaken by the other
contenders. The committee of Castletown Heritage Society, who helped draft
our submission, is thrilled to have featured among the winners. Committee
members are particularly pleased to see that the prize includes access
to training and advice programmes on running community groups. We are
very keen on training but our remote location can make attending training
events just a little more difficult. Having on-line access to this will
be of great benefit to us.”

Dateline: Sunday
15 January 2012

CHS
'Thank You' Dinner

It was very much
come in, relax and chill as committee members, supporters and their spouses
gathered at Castlehill for an informal evening and buffet dinner, which
was organised by way of appreciation of all their hard work undertaken
during the year in support of the Society. Muriel and John had laid on
a marvellous spread which was much appreciated and enjoyed by everyone.

A big surprise was
the showing of a recently commissioned video depicting Caithness Heritage,
featuring our very own Hugh Crowden, who happened to be in the right place
at the right time when the camera crew arrived unannounced at Castlehill
one day! Completely unfazed, Hugh had done a cracking job taking the camera
crew on a tour of the Heritage Garden and Centre, explaining about the
history of the flagstone industry. A born natural in front of the camera
if ever there was one!

Overall a thoroughly
enjoyable evening for which many thanks must go to Muriel and her team.

Welcome drinks
and nibbles

Wheresoever
three women gather together, so shall there be quality gossip...

John, shy
as usual, preparing the buffet

Morris and
Paul discuss the display memorabilia from Castletown Primary School

The food's
ready!

Muriel welcomes
everyone to the event

Muriel highlights
some of the work of our supporters

I'm getting
hungry Muriel...

You hold and
I'll pull

Sheila captures
the event for posterity

Preparing
the profiteroles - they really were as good as they look!

Liz and Keith
practice their Hiawatha routine

Dateline: Wednesday
11 January 2012

Epic
Awards - We've been shortlisted!!

Last
year we organised the re-enactment of an Edwardian Concert held exactly
100 years ago in the local village hall. To do this we engaged the support
of the local community, from school children to more 'senior' performers,
for what turned out to be a highly successful evening - click
here to see the news report for further details.

We have been delighted
to learn that the Society has been shortlisted for an 'Epic
Award', which are intended to shine a spotlight on the excellent work
of voluntary and amateur arts groups across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
We are currently one of six organisations in Scotland shortlisted in the
'People's Choice' category, where members of the public are invited to
vote for what they believe would be the most deserving winner!

This is where you
could help! It would be very much appreciated if you could review our
entry, and if you feel it appropriate, please vote for Castletown Heritage
Society.

To vote for Castletown
Heritage Society, click on the green square with the 'thumbs up' symbol
immediately below our entry, which can be identified by the photograph
below:

Many
thanks! Voting closes at 9am on Monday 16 January, so fingers crossed!!

Dateline: Sunday
08 January 2012

2012 Programme Launch

The
committee of Castletown Heritage Society extends our very best wishes
for 2012 to all the Society's friends, supporters and well wishers.

As the cold, wet
and windy weather over the festive holiday period shows no sign of abating,
what better than to make a visit to the warm and welcoming atmosphere
at Castlehill Heritage Centre. Our Winter Exhibition featuring Castletown
in Uniform is now well underway (see below) and we have been delighted
to receive much positive feedback.

Whether it be attending
our workshop on basket making or volunteering to take part in the restoration
of an iconic workers residence at the Backies, we would be delighted to
hear from you. Click here to book a place or
send us your thoughts on the forward programme. Feedback
on past events or ideas for future events or workshops would also be most
welcome.

Traditional
Boxing Day Opening - a great launch for the Winter Exhibition - Castletown
in Uniform

As
is now traditional, Castlehill Heritage Centre opened its doors on Boxing
Day afternoon, where a large crowd of friends, visitors and supporters
were warmly welcomed and treated to hot mince meat pies and mulled wine.

This year there was
an added bonus as Boxing Day was the launch of our new Winter Exhibition,
which features a variety of themed displays and artefacts
depicting the lives of local people past and present through their uniforms
- school children, postmen, bus drivers, nurses, armed forces, policemen,
Girl Guides and more!

The
exhibition proved to be a great success, generating much discussion and
interest among the visitors - as always, we gleaned a lot of interesting
'personal experience' information from these conversations, which we will
use to supplement and enrich all the hard research work done by Muriel
and her team!

The exhibition
will be open every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, from 2pm
to 4pm.

Tradional
Boxing Day opening - a great chance to meet up with old friends
for a good 'blether'

Within minutes
of opening, a good crowd of visitors were welcomed to the Centre

The hot mulled
wine was much appreciated, especially by those who had included
a visit as part of their traditional Boxing Day walk round the
village

Div ye mind....?

Part of the
display depicting the life and times of local policemen, nurses
and postmen

Past regalia
and ephemera from the local John O'Groat Lodge of Freemasons in
the village

Atrefacts
from the times when Castletown played host to the RAF during the
second world war. Complete with genuine RAF issue potty!

More memories
from RAF Castletown

Helmet belonging
to Lieutenant William Keith, of the First Caithness Artillery
Volunteers

Close-up of
the helmet insignia

Thankfully,
war-time essentials such as these are consigned to the past

Hugh providing
detailed local insight

The display
relating to local people involved in early military conflict proved
very popular

Alistair and
Morris - each a fantastic fount of local knowledge

Hiding the
empty case behind the biscuit tin won't work Keith - I know that
was your third mince-meat pie!

A most unseasonal
daffodil in the 'Flower of Olrig' - is this the first to be seen
in Caithness?